What’s With All The Reboots?

Heathers–the amazing ’80s teen movie–is getting turned into a TV show. I am not totally against reboots. They’re a great way of introducing a new generation to an older generation’s awesomeness. I absolutely loved The Addams Family movies when I was a kid, which made me go back and watch the original Addams Family and The Munsters from the ’60s. It can be cool to see an old idea in a modern context with new jokes, new technologies, and new trends. There’s nothing wrong with repeating an idea, West Side Story is just Romeo and Juliet, right? Both are amazing.

However, it’s a bit insulting to audiences that Hollywood thinks we can’t handle a new idea. I am sure there are plenty of talented writers, actors, and directors who have something else to say instead of repeating someone else’s ideas that are decades old. Yes, Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility.” Got it. Thanks, Uncle Ben. Can you teach me a new lesson? By now we all know that Spiderman was bit by a radioactive spider. It’s not really exciting when you know who the good guys are, who the bad guys are and that the good guys will always win.

Reboots happen in one of two ways. Usually they just copy the story and hire new actors. Or they use the name of the franchise and completely change everything. The second one is a marketing tool to get people who remember the old franchise to see the new one. For example, the new 21 Jump Street was nothing like the old show starring Johnny Depp. Why not just call it something else? Another thing that bugs me is that recycling an old franchise limits the kinds of things that can happen. It makes things boring and predictable to watch. The new 90120 only got really good when they stopped trying to reference the old characters and it was able to grow into its own show.

The Addams Family remake was perfection. / Credit: WENN.com

The ‘80s and ’90s were a great time for film and TV so it isn’t surprising that we keep returning to those things. Instead of reusing the same characters and story over and over again, why not look at the things we like from those decades and bring them back? I think a lot of us watch ’90s shows like Doug, Boy Meets World, Daria, and My So-Called Life because those shows were special and sincere in their own way. They weren’t copies of each other or cookie cutters of anything else. Would you really want to see a reboot of Boy Meets World? It’s sort of . . . sacred.

I absolutely loved the X-Men cartoon, I loved the first two movies, but did we really need Wolverine, Dead Pool, and First Class? Too much of a good thing can make you sick. If you eat too much ice cream it’s not going to taste so good. Better yet, when you have something all the time it loses what makes it special. Kind of like when your favorite T-shirt becomes the blouse that you haven’t worn in years.

I don’t think we should stop rebooting things altogether. But it’s sort of annoying that when I go to the movies everything is either a comic book or television reboot. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I like to watch movies where I can’t predict the ending from watching the trailer.

I see your point, but you’re still just complaining. I realize I may be reading the posts backwards, but I don’t want to come on this site anymore because I just read three or four different posts of you guys just complaining about stuff! Enough already! I come here to escape all the cyberbullying, not read more of it…